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Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Paniyaram is another interesting Breakfast/Snack option. When bored with regular Idly/dosa, i try making paniyaram with the same batter. Pillow-like, Puffy and Soft and a versatile Dish,where we can vary the seasoning to our taste.Today i m posting a Delicacy from Chettinad, Vellai Paniyaram. These Pillow-Puffies can be Deep-Fried in Hot oil too, i have made them in a Paniyaram Pan to make it a little healthy. Serve them hot with Tomato Chutney, you would relish it.The Same Batter can be used to make Vellai Appam using Appam Pan. Use the same batter without the Seasoning.

Ingredients

4 Cups Raw rice

1 cup Urad Dal/Dehusked Black Gram Dal

Salt to taste

1/4 Cup Milk

1/4 tsp Baking Soda

Oil for frying the paniyarams

Seasoning

1 Onion, finely chopped

2 green chilies, finely chopped or use 1/4 tsp green chili paste

2 sprigs of curry leaves, finely chopped

1/4 tsp grated ginger

2 tsp Bengal gram/Chana Dal, Soaked in Warm Water for 10 minutes

Method

Soak Rice and Dal together for 3 hours. Drain the water and Grind it to a smooth batter. Add Salt at the end and grind well.

Transfer the Ground Batter to another vessel, add the Seasoning Ingredients and Mix well.

Add Milk, Baking Soda to the batter and Give a Good Stir.

Heat the Paniyaram Pan/Abeleskiver Pan, pour little oil in the holes and fill the holes 3/4th of Batter.

Keep the flame and Cook. Once it is done on one side, Flip it to other side and cook for 2 minutes.

Do not be in a hurry while cooking, it takes about 5-8 minutes for a batch to Cook. Once Done, Transfer it to a plate and Serve Hot with Tomato Chutney an apt combination for this Delicacy

Monday, May 28, 2012

My Kiddo is an ardent fan of Dosa. Anytime, anyday, you give Dosa and a bowl(bucket) of Sambhar he is a Happy Kid. I bought an Appam Pan Last year from india, and haven't used it yet.Thought it is high time to take out that pan, so this weekend, i made him his Favorite dosa in a different Shape for Breakfast. He enjoyed it much.What attracts kids to this appam is the shape of it, the boat/bowl shaped Dosa, with a spongy center, they just love it!!!!

Ingredients

2 Cups Raw Rice

2 Cups Parboiled Rice

1/2 Cup Urad Dal

Salt to taste

1 and half Cup of Coconut Milk (Equal Mixture of Thick and thin milk)

6 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp Baking Soda

Method

Soak Rice and Dal together for 3-4 hours. Drain and Grind them together to a Thick fine batter with little water. Add Salt and Mix together.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Alfajore are two buttery crisp shortbread cookies sandwiched together with a sticky, gooey, yummy Dulce de Leche filling . Another Mouth-Watering and a Fool-Proof Recipe from Joy of Baking. Alfajores (al-fah-HOR-ays) are very popular in Latin America. Which makes sense as they are filled with another Latin American favorite, Dulce de Leche (DOOL-say day LAY-chay).

To Make them even more rich, you can Sprinkle some Confectioner's Sugar on top and Roll them on to some Sweetened coconut Flakes or Dip them in Chocolate to make them Even more sinful. But, tell you what, they taste amazing without all these rich toppings and you would definitely bake them often for you kiddo and also for yourself.

Baid Alqata or Salouq is an Arabic dessert. They are small pieces of bread, stuffed with delicious Walnut or Date-Walnut Filling. This Recipe is adapted from Arabic Bites. I have experimented with the Filling here. Instead of the traditional Walnut/Date-Walnut Filling, i have used Dark Chocolate and Coconut Flakes along with Walnuts. The Taste was amazing, the freshness of Cardamom in every bite makes it even more mesmerizing.

Friday, May 25, 2012

I m Living in UAE for the past 8 years, though i have tasted Middle-Eastern Food outside, but never tried them @ home. This is the first time, i made Falafel @ home. No big reason for not making all these days, since we tried it @ home, it will be a definite snack here onward.

A Little info (courtesy : Wiki) about these Cute little, power-packed Snack!!! Falafel is a deep-fried ball or patty made from ground chickpeas, fava beans, or both. Falafel is usually served in a pita, which acts as a pocket, or wrapped in a flatbread. Falafel balls may also be eaten alone as a snack.

Generally accepted to have first been made in Egypt, falafel has become a dish eaten throughout the Middle East. The Copts of Egypt claim to have first made the dish as a replacement for meat during Lent. The fritters are now found around the world as a replacement for meat and as a form of street food.

Ingredients

1 Cup Chickpeas

4 green chilies

3 cloves of garlic

a small piece of ginger

1 tsp of All purpose flour

a handful of Coriander Leaves

Oil for Deep Frying

Salt to taste

Method

Soak Chickpeas in Water for 8 hours or Overnight.

Drain the Excess water and towel dry the chickpeas. There should be no Moisture.

Take the Chickpeas with rest of the ingredients except oil in a mixer. Grind it smooth without adding water.

Transfer the contents to a bowl. knead and shape them into Marble-sized Balls.

Heat Oil in a Pan, Deep fry the Balls in Batches. Keep the flame in medium and fry, or else you end up with browned outside and uncooked inside falafels.

Serve them Hot as such with Tomato Sauce . My kiddo munched it as such without any accompaniment.

We enjoyed it as a sandwich, with some Peanut Chutney and Tomato Sauce and some Cucumber with toasted Sunflower Seed Bread.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

The Immediate Food that pops in our mind in Summer is Something Tanda, Tanda, Cool, Cool!!!! Not only for Adults, even kids too love something Chill on a Summer Day.

Gayathri's Cardamom Lassi, was tempting me since the day she posted it,thought of trying it with some fruits, which i had in hand. It was so Filling and Tasty, we didn't hear "amma, i m hungry!!!" for another 2 hours. Quick and Easy to Make Delicious Drink!!!

Ingredients

1 Pear

1 Apple

1 Mango, Flesh Scooped

1 Cup Chilled Full-Fat yogurt (Use Skimmed, if making for adults)

3/4 Cup Chilled Full-Fat Milk (Use Skimmed, if making for adults)

1/2 tsp Cardamom powder (skip it, if you dont prefer)

Sugar to taste

Method

Core Apple and Pear and Chop them into Small cubes.

Scoop out the Flesh from the Mango. Take all the fruits in a blender, add Milk and Blend, until the fruits are completely mashed.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Today is the first day of Group 2 Blogging Marathon and the last week for the regular 14 day Marathon. Most of you following Valli might be knowing, BM is having a New Make-over from next month. yes, we will be doing short-marathon, every week for the whole month!!!! Exciting!!!!! For Details, please Check Srivalli's Blog.

For this Week i chose to Blog upon What Kids love for Summer!!! What did we love when we were kids in Summer???? I remember my Mom and My Paati making tins of Savory snacks Murukku, Thattai, etc during our Summer Holidays, coz we used to have big Crowd @ home, we are 8 Cousins and we come together forget summer, every weekend!!!! It was Fun!!!

Here, in Dubai, during weekends, we plan regular get-together with our family members staying in Dubai/Sharjah.I have 2 of my cousins staying here ,my brother and my brother-in-law too are here. So, Whenever somebody is coming home for the weekend, especially my Brother-in-law and his family with their Cute LiL Brat, i try to bake something healthy for him and kuttu.

For One Such Get-together last week, i made them these Fruit-Power Packed Muffins, i packed some for Kuttu's School Snack Box too, he enjoyed them a lot.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Being a Vegetarian, only way to get the required protein is to include Dal and Leafy greens in our meal. i try to make Sambhar atleast thrice a week, and regular kootu twice a week. Keerai/Leafy Greens are made atleast once in a week. Apart from the regular Kootu and Stir fry or Parupu-usli, i make this Sambhar with Fenugreek Leaves/Vendaya Keerai. This Leafy Vegetable naturally has a Amazing Aroma, this blends so well with Toor Dal and Tamarind gives an excellent taste to both the senses.